The big EDL story, the comments of other writers.

October 10, 2013

I will at some later point write a thoughtful piece on the issue of Tommy Robinson leaving the English Defence League, because I’m waiting for the dust to settle before making pronouncements that may be wrong. At present not all the information I would like is out there and therefore for a short while I do not wish to put pen to paper on this matter. Like Mr Robinson I also am an opponent of Neo-Nazis, but I question whether or not Quilliam were the right people with which to align himself. Why Quilliam, and not one of the established Ex-Muslim groups, the members of which have a lot to lose, including their lives, should Islam gain any more of a foothold in our society and our country than it has done already?

However, in the meantime here are two comments on the issue from the British blogger Up Pompeii, and the American Islam experts Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.

Firstly Up Pompeii’s contribution.

So Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carrol have resigned, the reasons stated seem to imply that constant intimidation is the root cause of this move, this could well be the case when you consider the role the main stream media has played in the demonization of the EDL since its inception.

The MSM has manipulated the imagery and the motives of the EDL, this has been deliberate and certainly government backed, the government is highly pro Islamic and does not want any exposure of the rolling out of the Islamic state of the UK.

. It is “interesting ” to say the least that” Tommy Robinson is pictured with a prominent social commenter Mohammed Ansar, where the word “prominent” comes from I do not know – personally I have never heard of him – this shows how the media manipulate things, a Muslim, a little known Muslim is ‘prominent’ you never hear of a ‘prominent’ anti Muslim, no, they are called other names.

Some time ago I wrote about the EDL and Tommy Robinson, this was at the time they said they were going to form a political wing, I said this was a mistake simply because Tommy and Kevin were – in my opinion – not political leaders, they did not resonate with middle England and I think that that could be part of the reason why the two of them have stepped down, if this is the case then they have done the right thing and I hope this will allow the EDL to develop.

The EDL has gone as far as it can in its present format, it has to develop and I do not think that Tommy and Kevin were the people to take that leap into the next stage.

Tommy has stated that he could not control the violent factions within the EDL, this was always an area that the MSM focused on – very often amplifying such factions out of proportion whilst at the same time completely failing to show the huge propensity to violence that the UAF have.

Tommy Robinson has played completely into the hands of the media and political Islam, he has condemned the members of the EDL as the MSM have always portrayed them – a bunch of thugs, this is a very big betrayal of all those – the majority, who were not thugs.”

“This is Muslim Outreach? Tommy Robinson approaches Quilliam in earnest, puts his life on the line, becomes a pariah (and rightly so) and that’s how they declare it? Decapitation sounds like jihad, not reformation.

Quilliam claimed they have “facilitated the decapitation of the EDL” and called on all remaining members to “follow in his footsteps”.

As I noted in my initial declaration of support for Tommy’s leaving the EDL, there were many problematic elements within the EDL: antisemites, neo-Nazis, etc. There are also many patriotic lovers of freedom, and I hope they will be able to continue their struggle for human rights and the defense of England against Sharia and Islamization. While we supported Tommy’s distancing himself from the unsavory forces that were infiltrating the EDL, his association with the Quilliam Foundation is problematic in the extreme.

The Quilliam Foundation was founded by former members of the Islamic supremacist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which calls for a worldwide caliphate. The Quilliam founders say they’ve rejected all that and are “moderates” now, but there are warning signs that they aren’t. The Quilliam Foundation is named after a 19th-century British convert to Islam, Abdullah (formerly William) Quilliam, who was hardly a “moderate.” In warning Muslims not to aid a British expedition into Sudan in 1896, he wrote: “For any True Believer to take up arms and fight against another Muslim is contrary to the Shariat, and against the law of God and his holy prophet. I warn every True-Believer that if he gives the slightest assistance in this projected expedition against the Muslims of the Soudan, even to the extent of carrying a parcel, or giving a bite of bread to eat or a drink of water to any person taking part in the expedition against these Muslims that he thereby helps the Giaour [Infidels] against the Muslim, and his name will be unworthy to be continued upon the roll of the faithful.”

And he called for a worldwide Islamic caliphate, saying: “At the present time, union is more than ever necessary among Muslims. The Christian powers are preparing a new crusade in order to shatter the Muslim powers, under the pretext that they desire to civilise the world.”

A deceptive group like this will be able to deceive Tommy Robinson, who is full of courage and committed to human rights and is not well-versed in Islamic teaching, into thinking that Islam is a Religion of Peace and the jihadis are just a tiny minority of “extremists” — a word Tommy has been using a lot over the last few days.

Even worse, Mo Ansar said he had been meeting with Tommy Robinson for 18 months. Look at this interview with Ansar: he lies about Muhammad’s child bride Aisha, claiming she was 18 or 20 (get the truth here — she was 9 when Muhammad consummated their marriage) and tries to whitewash Islam’s institutionalized mistreatment of women. This is not “Islamic reform.” This is just deception.

These are the people Tommy Robinson has embraced. It was good to reject anti-Semitism, racism, fascism, etc. It is not good to capitulate to forces of jihad and Islamic supremacism. In boasting that they had “decapitated” the EDL, these “moderates” showed their true colors.”

Finally, I’m not going to lay into someone like Tommy Robinson who has put themselves on the line in the fight against Islam. Despite the concerns that linking with Quilliam bring up, there are many, many people out there who would not have a fraction of the bravery that Mr Robinson showed when he initially stood up and told the truth about an ideology that too often is not peaceful and very often oppressive and violent.

I and other counterjihadists for reasons of keeping our families and friends safe, write under pseudonyms, and because of that those like Mr Robinson and others who put their real selves out there to counter Islam are far braver than many of us. Who knows what pressures were brought to bear on Mr Robinson to make him take this step. I for one will not judge harshly until more information is revealed.